After months of preparation and planning, Wilfrid Laurier University will be launching its new website mid-to-late fall.

Graphic by Joshua Awolade

The development of the website, which has been in the works since 2012, has remained on track.

“We are still good to launch mid-to-late fall, which was the timeline from the offset,” said Helen Exley, associate director of marketing and creative services at Laurier.

The relationship between the university and mStoner, the firm selected to design the publication, has also remained strong.

“They have been a great partner to work with. Being able to work with a firm with their knowledge and expertise has truly been a pleasure,” said Exley.

Exley stressed the importance of a good relationship with the firm.

“It has been a partnership. They are not a vendor, they are a partner.”

Plans for the website sought to modernize the user experience, making for easier navigation around its content.

The redesign focuses on things like a more responsive and accessible design for users and ensuring users with visual impairments and other types of restrictions.

“The redesign was absolutely still in line with those plans.

Stoner was the firm we had worked with to build the web strategy moving forward. They were the vendor that selected the design,” Exley explained.

When The Cord previously reported on the redesign, the main goal of the website renewal was to modernize Laurier’s website.

Tom Buckley, former assistant vice-president of academic services at Laurier, told The Cord in February that the redesign was about “trying to build something that reflects who we are that does justice to us as an academy.” Exley believes this is still being achieved with the development of the new website.

She also pointed out that users of the new website can expect it will reflect what Laurier is as an institution and as a student body.

“It reflects our multi-campus and clear, intuitive architecture. It talks to who we are. It’s targeted to students, both undergraduate and graduate, so it really does show what life at Laurier is really about,” she said.

Anticipating its launch, there is excitement with the new design.

“We are very excited to launch the new website in the fall. I think it’s truly going to talk to who we are,” Exley said. “It’s going to be a great tool for prospective students.”